Filename: RC1057.TXT Source: +quot;The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception+quot; by Max Heindel [
Filename: RC1057.TXT
Source: "The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception" by Max Heindel
[PAGE 2067]
THE PATH OF EVOLUTION:
A word of warning in regard to diagrams used for purposes of illustration
may not be out of place. The student should remember that anything that is
reduced into another dimension can never be accurate. The picture of a
house would mean little or nothing to us if we had never seen a house. In
that case we would see in the picture only lines and blotches. It would
convey no meaning to us. Diagrams used to illustrate super physical matters
are much less true representations of the reality, for the simple reason
that in the case of the picture, the three-dimensional house is only reduced
to two dimensions, while in the case of diagrams of the Periods, Worlds and
Globes, the realities possess from four to seven dimension, and the diagrams
of two dimensions by which it is endeavored to represent them are thus so
much further removed from the possibility of correctly portraying them. We
must constantly bear in mind that these Worlds inter-penetrate, that the
Globes inter-penetrate, and that the way they are shown in the diagram is
analogous to taking all the wheels of a watch and laying them side by side
in order to show how the watch keeps time. If these diagrams are to be of
any use to the student they must be spiritually conceived. Otherwise they
will be confusing instead of enlightening.
[PAGE 2068]
REVOLUTIONS AND COSMIC NIGHTS:
The Saturn Period is the first of the seven Periods, and at this early
stage the virgin spirits take their first step towards the evolution of Con-
sciousness and Form. By reference to diagram 7 it will be seen that the
evolutionary impulse travels seven times around the seven Globes, A, B, C,
D, E, F and G, the arrows showing the direction.
First, a part of the evolution is accomplished on Globe A, situated in
the World of Divine Spirit, the rarest of the five Worlds which form our
field of evolution. Then, gradually the evolving life is transferred to
Globe B, which is located in the somewhat denser World of Life Spirit. Here
another stage of evolution is passed through. In due time the evolving life
is ready to enter the arena on Globe C, which is situated in and formed of
the yet denser substance of the Region of Abstract Thought. After learning
the lessons peculiar to that stage of existence, the life wave travels on-
ward to Globe D, which is located in and formed of the substance of the Re-
gion of Concrete Thought. This is the densest degree of matter reached by
the life wave during the Saturn Period.
From this point the life wave is carried upward again to Globe E, which
is situated in the Region of Abstract Thought, as is Globe C, yet the condi-
tions are not the same as on Globe C. This is the Involutionary stage, and
the substance of the Worlds is getting denser all the time. The tendency in
everything is to become denser and more solid as times goes on; also, as the
path of evolution is a spiral, it will be clear that, though the same points
are gone over, the conditions are never the same, but are on a higher and
more advanced plane.
When the work on Globe E has been completed, the next step is taken on
[PAGE 2069]
Globe F, which is situated in the World of Life Spirit, the same as Globe B;
thence it mounts to Globe G. When the work there is done, the life wave has
traveled once around all the seven Globes; once down and up through the four
respective Worlds. This journey of life wave is called a Revolution, and
seven Revolutions make one Period. During one Period the life wave travels
seven times down and up through the four Worlds.
When the life wave has traveled its full complement of seven times around
the seven times around the seven Globes, completing the seven Revolutions,
the first Day of Creation closes and there follows a Cosmic Night of rest
and assimilation, after which the Sun Period dawns.
Like the night of sleep between two days of human life and the interval
of rest between two earth lives, this Cosmic Night of rest after the comple-
tion of the Saturn Period is not a time of passive repose, but a season of
preparation for the activity to be unfolded in the coming Sun Period, where
man-in-the-making is to take a further dip into matter. Therefore, new
Globes are necessary, the positions of which in the seven Worlds are differ-
ent from those occupied by the Worlds of the Saturn Period. The providing
of these new Globes, and other subjective activities, occupy the evolving
spirits during the interval between Periods--the Cosmic Night. The manner
of procedure is as follows:
When the life wave has left Globe A in the Saturn Period for the last
tine, the Globe begins to slowly disintegrate. The forces which built it
are transferred from the World of Divine Spirit (where Globe A is located
during the Saturn Period) to the World of Life Spirit (where Globe A is lo-
cated during the Sun Period). This is shown on diagram 8.
[PAGE 2070]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
| DIAGRAM NUMBER 8 |
| THE 777 INCARNATIONS |
| OR |
| PILGRIMAGE OF THE VIRGIN SPIRITS |
| 7 REVOLUTIONS AROUND THE 7 GLOBES OF THE 7 WORLD PERIODS |
| |
| SATURN VULCAN |
|--------------------|----------------------------------------------|-----|
| A-|-G A-|-G |
|World of | | | | |
|Divine Spirit | | SUN VENUS | | |
|---------------- -|---|-----|-------------------------------|----|---|---|
| B F A-|-G A-|-G B F |
|World of | | | | | | | | |
|Life Spirit | | | | MOON JUPITER | | | | |
|------------------|---|---|---|-----|---------------|-----|---|--|---|---|
| T Region of C E B F A-|-G A-|-G B F C E |
|W H Abstract | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|O O O Thought | | | | | | EARTH | | | | | | |
|R F U ------------|---|---|---|---|---|-----|-----|---|---|---|--|---|---|
|L G Region of |-D-| C E B F A-|-G B F C E |-D-| |
|D H Concrete | | | | | | | | | | |
| T Thought | | | | | | | | | | |
|--------------------------|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----------|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| |-D-| C E B F C E |-D-| |
|Desire World | | | | | | |
|----------------------------------|---|---|---|---|---|------------------|
|P | | | | | | |
|H W Etheric |-D-| C E |-D-| |
|Y O Region | | |
|S R -------------------------------------|---|--------------------------|
|I L | | |
|C D Chemical THE EARTH---->|-D-| |
|A Region |
|L |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[PAGE 2071]
When the life wave has left Globe B in the Saturn Period for the last
time, it also commences to disintegrate, and the forces thereof, like the
seed-atom of a human vehicle, are used as a nucleus for Globe B in the Sun
Period, this Globe being then located in the Region of Abstract Thought.
In like manner the forces of Globe C are transferred to the Region of
Concrete Thought and draw upon the substance of that Region for the material
wherewith to build a new Globe C for the coming Sun Period. Globe D is
similarly transmuted and placed in the Desire World. Globes E, F, and G, in
order named, are analogously transferred. The result is (as reference to
diagram 8 will show) that in the Sun Period all the Globes are located one
step further down into denser matter that they were in the Saturn Period, so
that the life wave, upon its emergence from the Cosmic Night of Rest inter-
vening between the last activity on Globe G of the Saturn Period and the re-
newed activity on Globe A of the Sun Period finds a new environment, with
the opportunity thus afforded for new experiences.
The life wave now circles seven times around the seven Globes during the
Sun Period, tranversing seven times down and up the four Worlds or Regions
in which these Globes are located. It makes seven Revolutions in the Sun
Period, as it did in the Saturn Period.
When the life wave leaves Globe A in the Sun Period for the last time,
that Globe begins to disintegrate. Its forces are transferred to the denser
Region of Abstract Thought, where they form a planet to be used during the
Moon Period. In the same way, the forces of the other Globes are trans-
ferred and serve as nuclei for the Globes of the Moon Period, as shown in
diagram 8, the process being exactly the same as when the Globes
[PAGE 2072]
are removed from their locations in the Saturn Period to the positions they
occupied during the Sun Period. Thus the Globes of the Moon Period are
placed one step further down in matter that they were during the Sun Period,
the lowest (Globe D) being situated in the Etheric Region of the Physical
World.
After the interim of Cosmic Night between the Sun Period and the Moon Pe-
riod, the life wave starts its course on Globe A of the latter, completing
in due time its seven Revolutions, as before. Then there is another Cosmic
Night, during which the Globes are again transferred one step further down,
and this time the densest Globe is located in the Chemical Region of the
Physical World, as reference to diagram 8 will show.
This, then, is the Earth Period and the lowest and densest Globe (Globe
D) is our present Earth.
The life wave here, as usual, started on Globe A, after the Cosmic Night
succeeding the Moon Period. In the present Earth Period it has circled
three times around the seven globes and is now on Globe D, in its fourth
Revolution.
Here on earth and in this present fourth Revolution, the greatest density
of matter--the nadir of materiality--was reached a few millions years ago.
The tendency henceforth will be upward into rarer substance. During the
three and one-half Revolutions which remain to complete this Period, the
condition of the Earth will gradually become more and more ethereal, and in
the next--the Jupiter Period--Globe D will again be located in the Etheric
Region, as it was in the Moon Period, the other Globes being also elevated
correspondingly.
In the Venus Period they will be located in the same Worlds as were the
[PAGE 2073]
Globes of the Sun Period. The Globes of the Vulcan Period will have the
same density and be located in the same Worlds as were the Globes of the
Saturn Period. This is all shown on diagram 8.
When the life wave has completed its work in the Earth Period and the
Cosmic Night which follows in past, it will go through its seven Revolutions
on the Globes of the Jupiter Period. Then will come the usual Cosmic Night,
with its subjective activities; after which the seven Revolutions of the Ve-
nus Period; then another rest, succeeded by the last of the Periods of the
present scheme of evolution--the Vulcan Period. The life wave also makes
its seven Revolutions here, and at the end of the last Revolution all the
Globes are dissolved and the life wave is reabsorbed by God, for a period of
time equal in duration to that occupied by all the seven Periods of activ-
ity. God Himself then merges into the Absolute during the Universal Night
of assimilation and preparation for another Great Day.
Other and grander evolutions will then follow, but we can deal only with
the seven Periods described.
[PAGE 2074]
THE WORK OF EVOLUTION:
ARIADNE'S THREAD:
Having become acquainted with the Worlds, the Globes and the Revolutions
which constitute the path of evolution during the seven Periods, we are now
in a position to consider the work which is done in each Period, as well as
the methods employed to accomplish it.
The "Ariadne's thread" which will guide us through the maze of Globes,
Worlds, Revolutions and Periods will be found when it is remembered and kept
steadily in mind that the virgin spirits which constitute the evolving life
wave become entirely UNCONSCIOUS when they commenced their evolutionary pil-
grimage through the five Worlds of substance denser than the World of Virgin
Spirits. The purpose of evolution is to make them fully conscious and able
to master the matter of all the Worlds, therefore the conditions embodied in
Globes, Worlds, Revolutions and Periods are ordered with that end in view.
During the Saturn, Sun and Moon Periods and the past half of the present
Earth Period, the virgin spirits have unconsciously built their difference
vehicles under the direction of exalted Beings who guided their progress,
and have gradually awakened until they have attained the present state of
waking consciousness. This period is called "Involution".
From the present time to the end of the Vulcan Period, the virgin
[PAGE 2075]
spirits, who are now our humanity, will perfect their vehicles and expand
their consciousness in the five Worlds by their own efforts and genius.
This period is called "Evolution."
The above is the key to the understanding of what follows.
A thorough comprehension of the scheme of planetary evolution which has
been outlines in the preceding pages is of immense value to the student.
Although some believers in the laws of Consequence and Rebirth seem to think
that the possession of such knowledge is quite non-essential and of little
use, it is nevertheless of very great importance to the earnest student of
these two laws. It trains the mind in abstract thought and elevates it
above the sordid things of concrete existence, helping the imagination to
soar beyond the hampering toils of self-interest. As stated in our study of
the Desire World, Interest is the mainspring to action, yet at our present
stage of progress, Interest is generally aroused by selfishness. It is
sometimes of a very subtle nature, but it spurs to action of various kinds.
All action inspired by Interest generates certain effects which act on us,
and in consequence we are bound by action having to do with the concrete
Worlds. But, if our minds are occupied with such subjects as mathematics or
study of the planetary phases of evolution, we are in the Region of purely
Abstract Thought, beyond the influence of Feeling, and the mind is directed
upward towards the spiritual realism and liberation. When we are extracting
cube root, or multiplying figures, or thinking of Periods, Revolutions,
etc., we have no Feeling about it. We do not quarrel about twice two being
four. If our feelings were involved we should perhaps try to make it five
and quarrel with the one who, for personal reasons, said it was but three,
[PAGE 2076]
but in mathematics Truth is most clearly apparent and Feeling is eliminated.
Therefore, to the average man, desiring to live in the feelings, mathematics
is dry and uninteresting. Pythagoras taught his pupils to live in the World
of Eternal Spirit and he demanded that those who desired instruction from
his should first study A mind capable of understanding mathematics is
above the average and is capable of rising into the World of Spirit, because
it is not fettered in the World of Feeling and Desire. The more we accustom
ourselves to think in terms of the Spiritual Worlds, the better we shall be
able to rise above the illusions which surround us in this concrete exist-
ence, where the twin feelings, Interest and Indifference, obscure the Truth
and bias us, as the reflection of the light rays through the Earth's atmo-
sphere gives us incorrect ideas of the position of the luminary emitting
them.
Therefore the student who wishes to know Truth; to enter and investigate
the realms of Spirit; to free himself from the toils of the flesh, as rap-
idly as is consistent with safety and proper growth, is earnestly advised to
study what follows as throughly as possible; to assimilate it and draw men-
tal conceptions of these Worlds, Globes and Periods. If he wishes to
progress in this way, the study of mathematics and of Hinton's "The Fourth
Dimension" are also admirable exercises in abstract thought. This work of
Hinton's (though basically incorrect, because the four-dimensional Desire
World cannot be actually found by three-dimensional methods), has opened the
eyes of several persons who have studied it, and made them clairvoyant.
Moreover, remembering that logic is the nest teacher in any world, it is
certain that the individual who succeeds in entering into the superphysical
World by means of such studies in abstract thought, will not become confused
[PAGE 2077]
but will be able to give a good account of himself under all circumstances.
A stupendous scheme is here unfolded, and as more and more detail is
filled in, its complexity becomes almost inconceivable. Anyone capable of
comprehending it will be well rewarded for taking the utmost pains to do so.
Therefore, the student should read slowly, repeat often, think deeply and
much.
This book, particularly this chapter, cannot be read in a casual manner.
Every sentence has weight and bearing upon what follows, and presupposes a
knowledge of what precedes it. If the books is not studied throughly and
systematically, it will grown more and more incomprehensible and confusing
with every page. On the other hand, if it is studied and well thought out
as the student proceeds, it will be found that each page is illuminated by
the increased knowledge gained by study of what went before.
No work of this kind, dealing with the deepest phases of the Great World
Mystery that the human mind, at its present stage of development, it capable
of grasping, can be written in such a manner that it will be light reading.
Yet the deepest phases now comprehensible to use are but the A B C of the
scheme as it will be revealed to us when our minds have become capable of
understanding more, in later stages of our development as Supermen.
THE SATURN PERIOD:
The Globes of the Saturn Period consisted of much rarer and finer sub-
stances than our Earth, as it will be evident from a study of diagrams 7 and
8, which the student is advised to keep close at hand for frequent reference
while studying this subject. The densest Globe of that Period was located
[PAGE 2078]
in the same portion of the World of Thought occupied by the rarest of Globes
of the present Period--the Region of Concrete Thought. These Globes had no
consistency such as we can sense. "Warmth" is the only word that ap-
proximates the idea of the ancient Saturn Period. It was dark; and if a
person could have entered into the space it occupied, he would have seen
nothing. All about him would have been darkness, but he would have felt its
warmth.
To the materialist it will, of course, seem insanity to call such a con-
dition a "Globe", and to assert that it was the field of evolution of Form
and Life. Yet, when we consider the Nebular Theory, we can realize that the
nebula must have been dark before it glowed with light, and that it must
have been hot before it could become fiery. This heat must have been
brought about by motion, and motion is life.
We may say that the virgin spirits who were to evolve consciousness and
form were embedded in this Globe, or perhaps better, that the whole Globe
was composed of virgin spirits, as a raspberry is made of a great number of
small raspberries. They were incorporated in the Globe, as the life
ensouling the mineral is in our Earth. Therefore it is said among occult
scientists that in the Saturn Period man went through the mineral stage.
Outside this "warmth-Globe"--in its atmosphere, we might say--were the
great creative Hierarchies, who were to help the evolving virgin spirits to
develop form and consciousness. There were many Hierarchies, but for the
present we shall concern ourselves with the principal ones only--those which
did the most important work of the Saturn Period.
In the Rosicrucian terminology these are called "Lords of the Flame," be-
cause of the brilliant luminosity of their bodies and their great bodies and
[PAGE 2079]
their great spiritual powers. They are called "Thrones" in the Bible, and
worked on man of their own free will. They were so far advanced that this
evolutionary manifestation could give them no new experiences, and therefore
no added wisdom, and the same may be said of two still higher order of Hier-
archies, to be named later. The rest of the creative Hierarchies, in order
to complete their own evolutions, were compelled to work on, in and with
man.
These Lords of the Flame were outside the dark Saturn Globe and their
bodies emitted a strong light. They, so to say, projected their pictures
upon the surface of that ancient Saturn Globe, which was so impressionable
that it reflected, in a multiple or echo-like manner, everything that came
in contact with it, giving back the images manifolded. (This is told in the
Greek myth wherein it is said that Saturn destroyed his children.)
However, by repeated efforts during the first Revolution, the Lords of
the Flame succeeded in implanting in the evolving life the germ which has
developed our present dense body. This germ was somewhat developed during
the remainder of the first six Revolutions, being given the capacity for de-
veloping the senses organs, particularly the ear. Therefore, the ear is the
most highly developed organ we possess. It is the instrument which carries
with the greatest accuracy the impressions of outside conditions to the con-
sciousness. It is less subject to the illusions of the Physical World that
the other sense organs.
The consciousness of the evolving life of that Period was like that of
the mineral of today--a state of unconsciousness similar to that attained by
mediums in the deepest trance--yet during the first six Revolutions, the
evolving life worked on the germ of the dense body under the direction and
[PAGE 2080]
with the help of the different creative Hierarchies. In the middle of the
seventh Revolution the Lords of the Flame, Who had been since They gave
the germ of the dense body in the first Revolution, again become active,
this time to awaken the highest spiritual principle. They aroused the ini-
tial activity of the divine spirit in man.
Thus, man owes his highest and lowest vehicles--the divine spirit and the
dense body to the evolution of the Saturn Period. These, the Lords of the
Flame of their own free will helped him to manifest, not being under the
slightest compulsion to do so.
The work of the various creative Hierarchies is not started on Globe A,
at the commencement of a Period or a Revolution. It commences in the middle
of one Revolution, growing in strength and reaching its highest efficiency
in the middle of the Cosmic Night--which is between Revolutions, as well as
between Periods. Then it gradually declines, as the life wave sweeps on to
the middle of the next Revolution.
Thus the work of the Lords of the Flame in awakening the germinal con-
sciousness, was most active and efficient during the rest Period between the
Saturn and Sun Periods.
We reiterate that a Cosmic Night is not to be regarded as a time of inac-
tivity. It is not inert existence, as we saw in the case of the individual
passing from death to a new birth. So with the great death of all the
Globes of a Period. It is a cessation of active manifestation, that a pro-
portionately keener subjective activity may be unfolded.
Perhaps the best idea of the nature of this subjective activity may be
gained by observing what happens when a ripe fruit is buried in the ground.
[PAGE 2081]
Fermentation and decay of the flesh sets in, but out of that chaos comes the
new plant, sprouting forth into the air and sunshine. So, when a Period is
past, all is resolved into conglomerate chaos, apparently incapable of being
reduced to order. At the proper time, however, the Globes of a new period
are formed and made ready for occupancy as man-bearing Worlds. Hither the
evolving life is transferred from five dark Globes which it traverses during
the Cosmic Night, to commence the activities of a new creative day in an al-
tered environment, prepared and externalized during the activities of the
Cosmic Night. As the forces of fermentation in the fruit stimulate the seed
and fertilize the soil in which it grows, so the Lords of the Flame
stimulated the germ of divine spirit, particularly during the Cosmic Night
between the Saturn and Sun Periods, continuing their activities until the
middle of the first Revolution of the Sun Period.
RECAPITULATION:
Before the activity in any Period can be started, there is a recapitula-
tion of all that has been gone through before. Owing to the spiral path of
evolution, this activity takes place each time on a higher scale that the
stage in progression which it rehearses. The necessity will become apparent
when the actual work in recapitulation is described.
The first Revolution of any Period is a recapitulation of the work upon
the dense body in the Saturn Period, and is spoken of among Rosicrucians as
the "Saturn Revolution."
The Second Period is the Sun Period, and therefore the second Revolution
of any Period subsequent to the Sun Period would be the "Sun Revolution."
[PAGE 2082]
The third Period is the Moon Period, therefore the third Revolution of
any subsequent Period will be a recapitulation of the work done in the Moon
Period, and is called the "Moon Revolution."
Not until after the recapitulatory Revolutions does the proper work of a
Period begin. For instance, in the present Earth Period, we have passed
through three and one-half Revolutions. That means that in the first, or
Saturn Revolution of the Earth Period, the work done in the Saturn Period
was repeated, but on an advanced scale. In the second, or Sun Revolution,
the work of the Sun Period was gone through again. In the third, or Moon
Revolution, the work of the Moon Period was repeated; and it was only in the
fourth--the present Revolution--the real work of the Earth Period commenced.
In the last of the seven Periods--the Vulcan Period--only the last
Revolution will be concerned with real Vulcan work. In the preceding six
Revolutions the work of the preceding six Periods will have been reca-
pitulated.
Moreover (and this will particularly help the student to remember), a
Saturn Revolution in any Period has always to do with the development of
some new feature of the dense body, because that was started in a first
Revolution; and ANY seventh, or Vulcan Revolution, has for its particular
work some activity in connection with the divine spirit, because that was
started in a seventh Revolution. In the same way, we shall see that there
is a connection between the different Revolutions and all the vehicles of
man.
THE SUN PERIOD:
Conditions during the Sun Period differed radically from those of the
Saturn Period. Instead of the "warmth-Globes" of the latter, the Sun
[PAGE 2083]
Period Globes were glowing light-balls, of the consistency of gas. These
great gasballs contained all that had been evolved in the Saturn Period, and
similarly, in the atmosphere were the creative Hierarchies.
Instead of the echo-like, reflecting quality of the Saturn Period, these
Globes, to some extent, had the quality of absorbing and working over sight
or sound projected against their surfaces. They, as it were, "sensed"
things. The Earth does not seem to do this, and a materialist would scoff
at the idea, yet the occultist knows that the Earth feels everything on and
in it. This lighter Globe was much more sensitive that the Earth, because
it was not limited and bound in such hard and fast conditions of materiality
as is our present habitat.
The life, of course, was different, because no forms such as we know
could have existed there. But life can express itself in forms of fiery gas
as well as--in fact better than--in forms of hard chemical matter such as
the present dense forms of mineral, plant, animal and man.
As the evolving life appeared upon Globe A in the first or Saturn Revolu-
tion of the Sun Period, it was still in charge of the Lords of the Flame
who, in the middle of the last Revolution of the Saturn Period, awakened in
man the germ of the divine spirit.
They had previously given the germ of the dense body and, in the first
half of the Saturn Revolution of the Sun Period, were concerned with certain
improvements to be made upon it.
In the Sun Period the formation of the vital body was to be commenced,
with all thereby implied of capability for assimilation, growth, propaga-
tion, glands, etc.
The Lords of the Flame incorporated in the germ of the dense body only
[PAGE 2084]
the capability of evolving sense organs. At the time now under consider-
ation it became necessary to change the germ in such a way as to allow of
interpenetration by a vital body, also capability of evolving glands and an
alimentary canal. This was done by the joint action of the Lords of the
Flame, who gave the original germ, and the Lords of Wisdom, who took charge
of material evolution in the Sun Period.
The Lords of Wisdom, who were not so highly evolved as the Lords of the
Flame, worked to complete their own evolution; therefore they received the
assistance of an order of exalted Beings who, like the Lords of the Flame,
order of exalted Beings who, like the Lords of the Flame, acted of their own
free will. In esoteric parlance they are called the Cherubim. These ex-
alted Beings did not, however, become active in the work until it was neces-
sary to awaken the germ of the second spiritual principle of our
man-in-the-making, as the Lords of Wisdom were quite capable of doing the
work connected with the vital body which was to be added to the constitution
of man in the Sun Period, but not of awakening the second spiritual prin-
ciple.
When the Lords of the Flame and the Lords of Wisdom had, in the Saturn
Revolution of the Sun Period, conjointly reconstructed the germinal dense
body, the Lords of Wisdom, in the second Revolution, started the proper work
of the Sun Period, by radiating from their own bodies the germ of the vital
body, making it capable of inter-penetrating the dense body and giving to
the germ the capability of furthering growth and propagation and of exciting
the sense centers of the dense body and causing it to move. In short, they
gave, germinally, to the vital body all the faculties which it is now un-
folding to become a perfect and pliable instrument for the use of the
spirit.
[PAGE 2085]
This work occupied the second, third, fourth and fifth Revolutions of the
Sun Period. In the sixth Revolution the Cherubim entered and awakened the
germ of the second aspect of the threefold spirit in man--the life spirit.
In the seventh and last Revolution the newly awakened germ of the life
spirit was linked to the germinal divine spirit, and this was still further
worked upon.
We remember that in the Saturn Period our consciousness was similar to
the trace condition. By the activity of the Sun Period this was modified
until it became like the consciousness of dreamless sleep.
Evolution in the Sun Period added to the constitution of the evolving em-
bryonic man, the next highest and the next lowest of his present vehicles.
As the result of the Saturn Period he possessed a germinal dense body and
divine spirit. At the end of the Sun Period he possessed a germinal dense
body, vital body, divine spirit and life spirit, i.e., a twofold spirit and
a twofold body.
We also note that, as the first, or Saturn Revolution, of any Period is
concerned with work in the dense body (because that was started in a first
Revolution), so the second, or Sun Revolution, of any Period is concerned
with improvements on the vital body, because it was started in a second
Revolution. In like manner, the sixth Revolution of any Period is dedicated
to some work on the life spirit, and any seventh Revolution is particularly
concerned with matters connected with the divine spirit.
In the Saturn Period man-in-the-making went through a mineral stage of
existence. That is to say, he had a dense body only in the sense as had the
mineral. His consciousness was also similar to that of the present mineral.
[PAGE 2086]
In the same way, and for analogous reasons, it may be said that in the
Sun Period man went through the plant existence. He had a dense body and a
vital body, as plants have, and his consciousness, like theirs, was that of
dreamless sleep. The student will fully grasp this analogy by referring to
diagram 4 in the chapter on the four kingdoms, where the vehicles of con-
sciousness possessed by mineral, plant, animal and man are schematically
shown, with the particular consciousness resulting from their possession in
each case.
When the Sun Period was past there came another Cosmic Night of assimila-
tion, together with the subjective activity necessary before the opening of
the Moon Period. This was equal in length to the preceding Period of objec-
tive manifestation.
THE MOON PERIOD:
As the chief characteristic feature of the dark Saturn Globes was de-
scribed by the term "warmth," and that of the Sun Period Globes as "light"
or glowing heat, so the chief characteristic feature of the Globes of the
Moon Period may be best described by the term "moisture." There was no air
such as we know. In the center was the hot fiery core. Next to that, and
consequent upon contact with the cold of outside space, there was dense
moisture. By contact with the fiery central core the dense moisture was
changed into hot steam, which rushed outward to cool, and sink again toward
the center. Therefore the occult scientist calls the Globes of the Moon Pe-
riod "water" and describes the atmosphere of that time as "fire-fog." That
was the scene of the next forward step of the evolving life.
The Moon Period work was that of acquiring the germ of a desire body and
[PAGE 2087]
starting the germinal activity of the third aspect of the threefold spirit
in man--the human spirit--the Ego.
In the middle of the seventh Revolution of the Sun Period, the Lords of
Wisdom took charge of the germinal life spirit given by the Cherubim in the
sixth Revolution of the Sun Period. They did this for the purpose of link-
ing it to the divine spirit. Their greatest activity in this work was
reached in the Cosmic Night intervening between the Sun and Moon Periods.
In the first dawn of the Moon Period, as the life wave started upon its new
pilgrimage, the Lords of Wisdom reappeared, bearing with them the germinal
vehicles of the evolving man. In the first or Saturn Revolution of the Moon
Period, they co-operated with the "Lords of Individuality," who had special
charge of the material evolution of the Moon Period. Together they recon-
structed the germ of the dense body, brought over from the Sun Period. This
germ had unfolded embryonic sense organs, digestive organs, glands, etc.,
and was inter-penetrated of life into the embryonic dense body. Of course,
it was not solid and visible as it is now, yet in a crude sort of way it was
somewhat organized and is perfectly distinguishable to the trained clairvoy-
ant sight of the competent investigator who searches the memory of nature
for scenes in that far-off past.
In the Moon Period it was necessary to reconstruct the dense body to make
it capable of being inter-penetrated by a desire body, and also capable of
evolving a nervous system, muscle, cartilage and a rudimentary skeleton.
This reconstruction was the work of the Saturn Revolution of the Moon Pe-
riod.
In the second, or Sun Revolution, the vital body was also modified to
[PAGE 2088]
render it capable of being inter-penetrated by a desire body, also of accom-
modating itself to the nervous system, muscle, skeleton, etc. The Lords of
Wisdom, who were the originators of the vital body, also helped the Lords of
Individuality with this work.
In the third Revolution the proper Moon work commenced. The Lords of In-
dividuality radiated from themselves the substance which they helped the un-
conscious, evolving man to appropriate and build into a germinal desire
body. They also helped him to incorporate this germinal desire body in the
compound vital body and dense body which he already possessed. This work
was carried on all through the third and fourth Revolutions of the Moon Pe-
riod.
As with the Lords of Wisdom, so with the Lords of Individuality; through
exalted far above man, they worked on and in him to complete their own
evolution. While they were capable of dealing with the lower vehicle, they
were powerless in regard to the higher. They could not give spiritual im-
pulse necessary to the awakening of the third aspect of the threefold spirit
in man. Therefore another class of Beings who were beyond the necessity of
evolving in such an evolution as we are passing through--who also worked of
their own free will, as did the Lords of the Flame and the Cherubim--came in
during the fifth Revolution of the Moon Period, to help man. They are
called "Seraphim." They awakened the germ of the third aspect of the
spirit--the human spirit.
In the sixth Revolution of the Moon Period the Cherubim reappeared and
co-operated with the Lords of Individuality to link the newly acquired germ
of the human spirit to life spirit.
In the seventh Revolution of the Moon Period the Lords of the Flame again
[PAGE 2089]
came to the aid of man, helping the Lords of Individuality to link the human
spirit to the divine spirit. Thus the separate Ego--the threefold
spirit--came into existence.
Before the beginning of the Saturn Period the virgin spirits who are now
man, were in the World of Virgin Spirits, and were "All-conscious" as God in
who (not from whom), they were differentiated. They were not "SELF" con-
scious however. The attainment of that faculty is partly the object of
evolution which plunges the virgin spirits into a sea of matter of gradually
increasing density which eventually shuts it from All-consciousness.
Thus, in the Saturn Period the virgin spirits were immersed in the World
of Divine Spirit and encased in the tiniest film of that substance which
they partially penetrated by the help of the Lords of Flame.
In the Sun Period the virgin spirit was plunged into the denser World of
Life Spirit and more effectively blinded to the All-consciousness by a sec-
ond veil of the substance of the World of Life Spirit. Still, by the help
of the Cherubim it partially penetrated this second veil also. The feeling
of the Oneness of All was not lost either, for the World of Life Spirit is
still a universal World common to and inter-penetrating all the planets of a
Solar System.
In the Moon Period, however, the virgin spirits take a further dip into
the still denser matter of the Region of Abstract Thought and here the most
opaque of its veils, the human spirit, is added. Henceforth the
All-consciousness of the virgin spirit is lost. It can no longer penetrate
its veils, look OUTWARDS and perceive OTHERS, so it is forced to turn its
consciousness INWARDS and there it finds its SELF, as the Ego, separated
apart from all others.
Thus the virgin spirit is encased in a threefold veil, and as its
[PAGE 2090]
outermost veil, the human spirit, effectively blinds it to the oneness of
Life, it becomes the Ego by entertaining the illusion of separateness con-
tracted during involution. Evolution will gradually dissolve the illusion,
bring back the All-consciousness, and Self-consciousness will have been
added.
Thus we see that at the close of the Moon Period man possessed a three-
fold body in varying stages of development; and also the germ of the three-
fold spirit. He had dense, vital, and desire bodies, and divine, life and
human spirit. All he lacked was the link to connect them.
It has been stated that man passed through the mineral stage in the Sat-
urn Period; through the plant stage in the Sun Period, and his pilgrimage
through the conditions of the Moon Period corresponds to the phase of animal
existence, for the same reason that the two other similes are applicable--he
had the dense, vital, and desire bodies, as have our present animals, and
his consciousness was an internal picture-consciousness, such as the lower
animals have today. This resembles the dream consciousness of man, save
that it is perfectly rational, being directed by the group-spirit of the
animals. The student is again referred to diagram 4 in the chapter on the
four kingdoms, where this is shown.
These Moon beings were not so purely germinal as in the previous Peri-
ods. To the trained clairvoyant they appear suspended by strings in the at-
mosphere of the fire-fog, as the embryo hangs from the placenta by the um-
bilical cord. Currents (common to all of them), which provided some sort of
nourishment flowed in and out from the atmosphere, through those cords.
These currents were thus, to some extent, similar in their function to the
blood of the present day. The name "blood" as applied to these currents,
[PAGE 2091]
however, is used merely to suggest an analogy, because the Being of the Moon
Period possessed nothing like our present red blood, which is one of the
very latest acquisitions of man.
Towards the end of the Moon Period there was a division of the Globe
which was the field of our and other evolutions, which, for the sake of
greater implicity, we have not heretofore mentioned, but with which we shall
presently become acquainted.
Part of that great Globe was crystallized by man on account of his in-
ability to keep the part which he inhabited in the high state of vibration
maintained by the other beings there, and as this part became more inert the
centrifugal force of the revolving Globe sent is spinning into space, where
it began to circle around the glowing fiery central portion.
The spiritual reason for the throwing off of such crystallizations is
that the highest beings on such a Globe require for their evolution the ex-
ceedingly rapid vibrations of fire. They are hampered by condensation, al-
though such a condition is necessary to the evolution of other and less ad-
vanced beings required lower rates of vibration. Therefore, when part of
any Globe has been consolidated by a group of evolving beings to the detri-
ment of others, that part is thrown off to exactly the proper distance from
the central mass, so that it circles as a satellite around its primary. The
heat vibrations which strike it are of the rate and strength suitable to the
peculiar needs of the beings evolving upon that satellite. Of course the
law of gravitation accounts quite satisfactorily for the phenomenon from a
PHYSICAL viewpoint. But there is always a deeper cause, that yields a more
complete explanation and which we will find if we consider the spiritual
[PAGE 2092]
side of things. As a physical action is but the visible manifestation of
the invisible thought which must precede it, so is the throwing off of a
planet from a central Sun simply the visible and unavoidable effect of in-
visible spiritual conditions.
The smaller planet which was thrown off in the Moon Period, condensed
with comparative rapidity and remained the field of our evolution until the
end of that Period. It was a moon to the parent planet, circling around it
as our Moon circles around the Earth, but it did not show phases as our Moon
does. It revolved in such a manner that one-half was always light and the
other always dark, as is the case with Venus. One of its poles was pointed
directly towards the large fiery Globe, as one of the poles of Venus points
directly towards the Sun.
On this satellite of the Moon Period there were currents which encircled
it, as the group-spirit currents encircle the Earth. The Moon beings fol-
lowed those currents instinctively from the light to the dark side of this
old Moon. At certain times of the year, when they were on the light side, a
sort of propagation took place. We have the atavistic residue of those moon
travels from propagation in the migrations of the birds of passage which, to
the present day, follow the group-spirit currents around the Earth at cer-
tain seasons of the year, for identical purposes. Even the (honey) moon
trips of human beings show that man himself has not yet outgrown the migra-
tory impulse in connection with mating.
The Moon beings at this last stage were also capable of giving utterance
to sounds, or cries. These were Cosmic sounds--not expressions of indi-
vidual joy or sorrow, for as yet there was no individual. The development
of the individual came later--in the Earth Period.
[PAGE 2093]
At the end of the Moon Period once more came the interval of rest, the
Cosmic Night. The divided parts were dissolved and merged in the general
Chaos which preceded the reorganization of the Globe for the Earth Period.
The Lords of Wisdom had now evolved so far, that they were capable of
taking charge as the highest creative Hierarchy. They were given special
charge of the divine spirit in man during the Earth Period.
The Lords of Individuality were also sufficiently advanced to work upon
the spirit in man and the life spirit was therefore put under their charge.
Another creative Hierarchy had special care of the three germs of the
dense, vital, and desire bodies as they were evolving. They were the ones
who, under the direction of the higher orders, actually did the principal
work on these bodies, using the evolving life as a kind of instrument. This
Hierarchy is called the "Lords of Form." They were now evolved so far that
they were given charge of the third aspect of the spirit in man--the human
spirit--in the coming Earth Period.
There were twelve great Creative Hierarchies active in the work of
evolution at the commencement of the Saturn Period. Two of these Hierar-
chies did some work to help at the very beginning. No information has been
given as to what they did, nor anything about them, except that they helped
of their own free will, and then withdrew from limited existence into lib-
eration.
Three more of the Creative Hierarchies followed them at the beginning of
the Earth Period, the Lords of the Flame, the Cherubim and the Seraphim,
leaving seven Hierarchies in active service when the Earth Period began.
[PAGE 2094]
(Diagram 9 will give a clear idea of the twelve Creative Hierarchies and
their status).
DIAGRAM 9:
THE TWELVE GREAT CREATIVE HIERARCHIES:
ZODIACAL SIGN: NAME: STATUS:
1] Aries -------- Nameless ------------- The first and second orders are
2] Taurus ------- Nameless ------------- said to have passed beyond the
ken of anyone on Earth. It is
known that they gave some assis-
tance at the beginning of our
evolution.
The three following orders worked of their
own free will to help man during the three
periods which preceded the Earth Period.
They have also passed to liberation:
3] Gemini ------- Seraphim ------------- who, in the Moon Period, aroused
in man-in-the-making the germ of
the human spirit--the Ego,
4] Cancer ------- Cherubim ------------- who, in the Sun Period, aroused
the germ of the life spirit.
5] Leo ---------- Lords of Flame ------- who, in the Saturn Period, aroused
the germ of the divine spirit and
gave the germ of the dense body.
The following Seven Creative Hierarchies are
active in the Earth Period:
6] Virgo -------- Lords of Wisdom ------ who, in the Sun Period, started
the vital body.
7] Libra -------- Lords of Individuality-who, in the Moon Period, started
the desire body.
8] Scorpio ------ Lords of Form -------- who have special charge of human
evolution in the Earth Period.
9] Sagittarius -- Lords of Mind -------- the humanity of the Saturn Period.
10] Capricorn ---- Archangels ----------- the humanity of the Sun Period.
11] Aquarius ----- Angels --------------- the humanity of the Moon Period.
12] Pisces ------- The Virgin Spirits --- who are the humanity of the pre-
sent Earth Period.
[PAGE 2095]
The Lords of Mind became experts at building bodies of "mind-stuff" as
we are becoming experts at building bodies of chemical matter, and for a
similar reason: The Region of Concrete Thought was the densest condition of
matter reached during the Saturn Period where they were human and the
Chemical Region is the densest state to be contacted by our humanity.
In the Earth Period the Lords of Mind reached the Creator-stage, and
radiated from themselves into our being the nucleus of material from which
we are now seeking to build an organized mind. They are called "Power of
Darkness" by Paul because they came from the dark Saturn Period, and are
considered evil on account of the separative tendency appertaining to the
plan of Reason as contrasted with the unifying forces of the World of Life
Spirit; the realm of Love. The Lords of Mind work with humanity; but not
with the three lower Kingdoms.
The Archangels became experts at building a body of desire-stuff: the
densest matter of the Sun Period. Therefore they are able to teach and
guide such less evolved beings as man and animal how to mold and use a
desire-body.
The Angels are thoroughly experienced in building a vital body for the
Moon period when they were human the ether was the densest condition of mat-
ter. On account of this ability they are properly the teachers of man,
animal and plant with regard to the vital functions: propagation, nutrition,
etc.
Continued with file "RC1058.TXT"
End of File
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